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Walking in Step to the Future: Views of JournalismEducation by Practitioners and EducatorsErnest F. MartinVirginia Commonwealth University, [email protected]

Debora Wenger

Paula Otto

Jeff C. SouthVirginia Commonwealth University, [email protected]

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Walking in Step to the Future:

Views of Journalism Education by Practitioners and Educators

Ernest F. Martin, Jr.

Associate Professor, School of Mass Communications

Virginia Commonwealth University

P.O. Box 842034, Richmond, VA 23284-2034

Telephone: 804-827-3733; FAX: 804-828-9175

[email protected]

Debora H. Wenger




Telephone: 804-827-0250; FAX: 804-828-9175

[email protected]

Jeff C. South




Telephone: 804-827-0253; FAX: 804-828-9175

[email protected]

Paula I. Otto

Assistant Director, School of Mass Communications



Telephone: 804-827-3709; FAX: 804-828-9175

[email protected]

This study was conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Mass

Communications, in conjunction with the Radio-Television News Directors Association

and Foundation and the Associated Press Managing Editors.

Paper submitted to the

Radio-Television Journalism Division

2005 AEJMC Convention

San Antonio

ABSTRACT



This study, based on an Internet survey of 317 educational administrators,

television news executives, newspaper editors and online executives during first quarter

2004, contrasts views about preparation of students for current and future jobs by

showing gaps between what employers’ value most in job applicants and what

educational programs are providing. Second, it addresses newsroom challenges that are

shaping the industry and journalism education.



Introduction

Journalism is undergoing tremendous change as technology and business practices move

the industry to convergence of newspapers, television and the Internet. Today, both journalism

educators and practitioners are in a unique and challenging position.

… Changes in the media are sure to alter the status quo in the classroom and in

the newsroom. A stronger partnership between the classroom and the newsroom is

needed. Unfortunately, because of the skepticism of both groups, the alliance has never

reached its full potential.

The alliance is not needed to validate the importance of either the academy or the

profession. The alliance is needed to protect and promote journalism. It should not be

necessary to march in lock-step to realize that educators and journalists are on the same

side. …

The journalism tent is big enough for many orientations. We are not threatened by

the journalism tent growing too big. We are threatened by the prospect of it becoming too

small. …

In the next decade, our democracy will depend on an informed public. That public

will continue to need news gatherers and news explainers.

By the end of the next decade, journalism classrooms and newsrooms likely will

look different, perhaps dramatically different. …

It is ludicrous for practitioners and educators to operate so apart from one

another. The relationships vary from state to state, but as a rule, very little collaboration

beyond job references ever takes place. The smart people in the academy and the

profession need to figure out how to improve that in the next decade. (Charles Overby,

1999)

It is against this backdrop that we look at views of journalism education by educators

and journalism practitioners. Educators and practitioners are constantly walking forward into

the changing future – simultaneously constrained by challenges of the daily operation,

emboldened by the future horizon and grounded in current industry practice.

Walking in Step to the Future • Page 2

Previous Research

The question “What can universities contribute to the education of journalists?” continues

to engender debate (Kirtz, 2002). Glasser (2002), addressing the periodic flare-up of this

question, says:

No one benefits from a discussion mired in the vocabulary of ‘theory versus

practice,’ ‘academics versus professionals,’ ‘education versus training,’ or to remind

everyone how old and tired this debate has become ‘chi squares versus green eye

shades.’

At the same time, perceived needs of practitioners and educators, informed by challenges

posed by new economic, technological and social changes, place the discussion into new

contexts.

In 1997, Ketchum Public Relations conducted a survey of media executives about

journalism education and issues in the media. In that survey, media executives stressed the

importance of reporting, interviewing, ethics, government affairs and current events as especially

important areas for undergraduate journalism education (Lindenmann, 1997).

Other recent studies have looked at various of the aspects of convergence. Huang et al.

(2002) examined practitioner concerns about skills news professionals need to learn in their

current positions. Toward the top were good writing, multimedia production, new technology,

critical thinking, computer-assisted reporting and visual production.

Bulla (2002) examined the impact of convergence on contemporary working journalists’

job routines and skills development and their suggestions about what journalism educators

should be teaching their students.

Assessment of the educational needs of students is a never-ending process. The Freedom

Forum’s Winds of Change study of journalism education (conducted by the Roper Center at the


University of Connecticut) interviewed journalism educators, new journalists and newsroom

recruiters and supervisors (Medsger, 1996).

A variety of thoughtful pieces on journalism education appears in multiple venues.

William Woo (2003) wrote about the purpose of journalism, and journalism education, going

beyond reporting and writing.

Some institutions may turn out excellent practitioners of craft. Others may

produce graduates rich in historical, social, and theoretical understanding. But what does

it matter if the owners of America’s media are indifferent to these qualities?

The great task for journalism educators, in addition to providing practical training

and academic breadth, is to equip their students with a firm sense of the public trust: how

it developed, what it means to America, how it manifests itself or is betrayed in the work

of journalists and news organizations. Journalism programs, departments, and schools

need to become the places where such concepts are nurtured, protected, and ceaselessly

advocated.

Research Questions

In the context of 2005, we ask journalism educational administrators, television news

executives, newspaper editors, and online executives questions addressing the following areas:

1. How aligned are educators and practitioners on the important skills for students entering

journalism for the first time?

2. How effective are university programs in training for the essential skills?

3. How aligned are educators and practitioners on the importance of particular general

education areas for journalism students?

4. What are the significant challenges in journalism relating to audiences, business,

diversity, technology, resources and budget?

5. In what ways can journalism schools assist in addressing various challenges?

6. How should journalism and journalism schools view blogging?


7. How supportive are media companies in backing newsroom staffers in legal disputes

involving First Amendment issues?

Method

This study is based on an Internet survey of national samples of educational

administrators, television news directors, newspaper editors and online executives. The survey

field dates were Jan. 12-March 8, 2004. The protocol was approved by the VCU’s Institutional

Review Board. Initial e-mail invitations were sent to each sample, with two reminder e-mails.

The questionnaire was self-administered online.

The sample of educators was drawn from the schools listed in the AEJMC directory, with

e-mail addresses verified by searching university Web sites. The response rate for educators was

27 percent (91 returned from 336 eligible respondents). Eligible respondents were defined as

those whose e-mailed invitations did not “bounce back” as a “disconnected” addresses.

Educators accounted for 29 percent of the total respondents of 317. The characteristics of

returned educator sample is:

51 percent undergraduate only; 49 percent undergraduate and graduate programs.

67 percent journalism and other mass communications programs; 8 percent journalism

only; 25 percent other.

40 percent ACEJMC accredited; 60 percent non-accredited.

2 percent fewer than 50 students; 32 percent 50-199; 30 percent 200-499; 27 percent

500-999; 9 percent 1,000 or larger.

20 percent hold the title dean or director; 61 percent head or chair; 19 percent other.

18 percent designate their curriculum as highly converged; 39 percent self-designate

their program as moderately converged; 29 percent as somewhat converged and 13


percent as not converged. In the questionnaire, we define a converged curriculum as one

that teaches all journalism students how to generate news content for print, broadcast

and online.

For the educators, 38 percent are in the Southeast; 24 percent in the West; 25 percent in

the Midwest; 14 percent in the Northeast.

The newspaper sample was drawn from the “Managing Editor” e-mail addresses in Bacon’s

Information Inc.’s database of daily newspapers. The response rate was 9 percent (84 of 955

eligible respondents). The newspaper sample accounts for 27 percent of the total sample.

89 percent of the respondents in the newspaper sample have the title of managing editor;

11 percent other.

49 percent of the newspaper sample comes from papers with circulation below 25,000;

23 percent from 25,000 to 49,999; 18 percent from 50,000 to 99,999; 8 percent from

100,000 to 499,999; and 2 percent from 500,000 or more.

For the newspaper sample, 21 percent are in the Southeast; 27 percent in the West; 38

percent in the Midwest; 13 percent in the Northeast.

The television sample was drawn from the “News Director” e-mail addresses in Bacon’s

Information Inc.’s database of television stations. The response rate was 10 percent (65 of 635

eligible respondents). The television sample accounts for 21 percent of the total sample.

89 percent of the television sample hold the title of news director; 11 percent other.

19 percent of the TV sample came from market size 1 to 25; 19 percent from 26 to 50; 30

percent from market size 51 to 100; 21 percent from markets 101 to 150; and 11 percent

from markets 151 or smaller.

For the television sample, 36 percent are in the Southeast; 27 percent in the West; 22



The online sample was drawn from the “Online Managing Editor, Online Editor” e-mail

addresses in Bacon’s Information Inc.’s database of daily newspapers and television stations.

The response rate was 15 percent (77 of 512 eligible respondents). The newspaper sample

accounts for 24 percent of the total sample.

40 percent of the online sample hold the title of online managing editor; 60 percent other.

74 percent of the online sample self-identify their organization as a newspaper; 12

percent an online organization; 5 percent a television station and 9 percent other

(generally combination).

27 percent of the online sample had fewer than 50,000 monthly unique visitors to the site;

12 percent 50,000 to 99,999; 39 percent 100,000 to 499,999; 9 percent 500,000 to

999,999; and 13 percent 1,000,000 or more.

For the online sample, 33 percent are in the Southeast; 31 percent in the West; 15


A summary of response rates are below. We know that non-response has been a serious

problem with online surveys for quite a while, and rates have recently been plummeting. The

response rates are low, but not unusual for recent non-permission based or non-opt-in panel

sampling. The eligible non-responders introduce unknown bias into the results.

Sample Eligible Returned % of Total Response Rate

Educator 336 91 28.7 27.1

Newspaper 955 84 26.5 8.8

TV 635 65 20.5 10.2

Online 512 77 24.3 15.0

Total 2,438 317 100.0 13.0


Findings and Discussion

Research Question 1:

How aligned are educators and practitioners on the important skills

for students entering journalism for the first time?

(See Table 1)

It is hard to find a skill that journalism educators or practitioners do not deem important

for students to acquire before entering the job market. Even the skill ranked lowest in importance

among the 14 tested (gathering/editing audio) received a mean score of 3.64 for educators and a

3.36 for practitioners in 2005 on a five-point scale. 2004’s study found similar importance for

13 items, with the lowest in importance mean score of 3.64 for educators and a 3.35 for

practitioners. The lower ranked skills, the ability to gather and edit audio and video, ranked well

above average in importance to everyone surveyed with the exception of the print journalists,

who weighed in with a mean score of 2.90 and 2.82 respectively.

Several skills have high levels of agreement among educators and practitioner segments.

The skills of basic journalistic writing, ethics, research, and collaboration are not substantially

different for various segments. As one educator respondent put it, “We need to provide a

foundation of writing, reporting and inteviewing that ensures students will be able to approach

news assignments in a professional and ethical manner. THEN we can add the technical stuff.”

However, there appears to be substantial lack of agreement among educators and

practitioner segments as to the importance of various skills – especially those related to

convergence journalism. On a five point scale, with 5 being higher, in the 2005 sample:

Writing across media platforms is of highest importance for educators (4.28) and online

(4.39) – with the newspaper mean at 3.55. A similar pattern occurred in 2004.


Multimedia story planning is also of highest importance for educators (3.95) and online

(4.04) – with the TV mean at 3.27.

Creating and designing graphics is more important for educators (3.74) than the

practitioner average (3.38).

Skill of covering multicultural communities has greater importance for educators (4.30)

than practitioners in general (3.99).

The disconnect between educators and practitioners over the significance of multimedia

story planning and writing across media platforms is apparent in the open-ended responses as

well. One newspaper respondent noted, “J-schools should not be training print reporters to shoot

video any more than prospective TV anchors are expected to be able to write 30 inches. The skill

sets are different, and while the convergence phenomenon is still in vogue, hiring people because

they are strong in a limited number key areas will always lead to higher competency in key

positions than those who are hired because they have "ability" (which, in and of itself, can be a

dangerously low standard) across multiple platforms.”

Some journalist segments find certain skills of greater importance than educators.

Newspaper practitioners rate reporting skills of higher importance (4.96) than educators (4.76).

Newspaper respondents also rate interviewing skills (4.81) higher than educators (4.72). They

are closely aligned with educators on the importance of basic journalistic writing, ethics,

research, and collaboration. Television journalists are significantly stronger in rating the

importance of gathering and editing video (4.25) compared with educators (3.79) and gathering

and editing audio (3.90 / 3.64). Online journalists are higher than educators and other journalists

in rating the importance of skills in writing across media platforms (4.39 / 4.28) and multi-media

story planning (4.04/3.95).



How effective are university programs

in training for the essential skills?

(See Table 1)

The more troubling news for educators is how far off the mark practitioners think schools

are when it comes to teaching students the skills evaluated by the survey. In both 2004 and 2005,

educators score themselves below a 3.0 (2.89 in 2004; 2.73 in 2005) on just one skill –

multimedia story planning. In contrast, practitioners score educators below a 3.0 on 10 of the

skills evaluated in both 2004 and 2005. Practitioners do give educators a better than average

grade on basic journalistic writing, reporting, ethics and interviewing – the skills designated as

most important in the survey. However, educators rank themselves at least three-quarters of a

point higher than practitioners do on all of those skills.

There are obviously many possible factors contributing to this disconnect. Perhaps the

industry’s expectations of what schools can accomplish are set too high. Few programs allow

more than 40 credits to be completed within the major. If those courses were taken all at once,

that would be just three intense semesters of journalism instruction. Or it may be that journalism

schools must do more to build relationships with the profession. When practitioners say certain

skills are important, what does that mean in terms of instruction? What aspects of reporting,

ethics and interviewing need to be included in the curriculum? By creating a more extensive,

ongoing dialogue with journalism professionals, educators may be able to do much to close the

effectiveness gap revealed here and in other similar research.

Interestingly in both 2004 and 2005, broadcast journalists find the schools least effective

overall – ranking them lowest among practitioners on eight skills: basic journalistic writing,

reporting, ethics, interviewing, research skills, creating/designing graphics, computer-assisted

reporting and copyediting. Broadcast journalists are relatively closely aligned with educators on


the importance of basic journalistic writing, reporting and interviewing – yet they perceive the

biggest disconnect in effectiveness. It is possible that programs steeped in a tradition of print

reporting may be failing to address some of the unique concerns of reporting and interviewing

for broadcast journalism.

One broadcast respondent was willing to share some of the responsibility for the

perceived ineffectiveness of journalism education as a whole: “I am extremely disappointed in

the preparation of many journalism students. Either the schools have been ineffective in

emphasizing the importance of knowing all aspects of journalism or the students, themselves,

feel they don't need all those skills to succeed. I blame those of us who have experience in the

business by not spending more time with the interns and many of the professors who haven't

spent enough time in a television station to successfully prepare their students for the "real

world".

Online journalists graded the schools most harshly on four skills: writing across media

platforms, multimedia story planning, gathering/editing video and gathering/editing audio. Given

the nature of online journalism, it seems appropriate that the practitioners associated with this

platform set the standards on these skills very high.

This is data that may inspire more introspection on the part of journalism schools and

programs. Are practitioners grading educators too harshly, or are educators getting complacent

about their programs and ceasing to evolve to meet the needs of an ever-evolving industry?



How aligned are educators and practitioners on the importance

of particular general education areas for journalism students?

(See Table 2)

Practitioners and educators agree that journalism schools should require students to take a

variety of general education courses in order to be prepared for the workplace. As was the case

with the 2004 survey results, only one of the items included in this question generated a mean

response rate below 4.0 when one compares responses for educators and all practitioners

combined. However, there continue to be notable differences when one compares what

educators consider the most important general education courses to what practitioners deem the

highest priority.

Ranking of Importance of Course Work by Educators and Practitioners, 2004 and 2005

Skill Educator

2004

Educator

2005

Practitioner

2004

Practitioner

2005

Current Events 3 (4.35) 2 (4.45) 2 (4.58) 1 (4.55)

Governmental Affairs 2 (4.39) 4 (4.42) 1 (5.51) 2 (4.45)

Computer Skills 4 (4.32) 6 (4.12) 3 (4.37) 5 (4.27)

History 5 (4.31) 2 (4.45) 4 (4.35) 3 (4.36)

Political Science 6 (4.14) 5 (4.27) 5 (4.29) 4 (4.28)

Liberal Arts 1 (4.67) 1 (4.59) 6 (4.08) 6 (4.01)

Management &

Business Practice

7 (3.77) 7 (3.95) 7 (3.88) 7 (3.82)

There continues to be a significant difference between educators’ and practitioners’

rankings of the most important coursework. The category of Liberal Arts, which educators

ranked as most important in both 2004 and 2005 (2004 mean = 4.67; 2005 mean = 4.59), was

ranked near the bottom in importance by practitioners both years (2004 mean = 4.08; 2005 mean

= 4.01). One educator respondent was passionate about the issue, “To my mind a solid liberal

arts program of study could benefit the intellectual curiosity of all students. More so, I believe


students interested in the field of journalism need a broad exposure to foreign languages and

culture, the literature of American journalism and history.”

Educators’ strong belief in a liberal arts background may be linked to standards of the

Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. There may also be a

misunderstanding by practitioners of what is meant by liberal arts courses.

One notable change in practitioner rankings between 2004 and 2005 is the importance of

computer skills from third most important in 2004 (mean = 4.37) to fifth most important in 2005

(mean = 4.27) in 2005. In 2005, on-line and television practitioners rank computer skills slightly

higher than the overall practitioner ranking, at 4.31 and 4.32 respectively.

In 2005 practitioners continue to rank current events and governmental affairs as No. 1

and 2. Among practitioners, 77 percent of television journalists rank current events as very

important and 63 percent rank governmental affairs as very important, compared to 63 percent of

newspaper journalists who rank governmental affairs as very important and 51 percent of whom

give governmental affairs a very important ranking. Governmental Affairs fell to fourth most

important in the 2005 rankings among educators, but the mean actually rose between 2004 and

2005 (2004 mean = 4.39; 2005 mean = 4.45), indicating that educators agree with practitioners

that coursework in these two areas is important.



What are the significant challenges in journalism relating to

audiences, business, diversity, technology, resources and budget?

(see Table X)

The survey listed eight issues facing the news industry and asked respondents to rate their

significance. From the 2004 survey to 2005, there were few shifts in how respondent subgroups

viewed the challenges facing journalism. Mean scores rarely changed by more than 0.10. The

handful of exceptions included how online news editors viewed the challenge of recruiting a

diverse staff: In 2004, they gave that challenge a mean score of 3.96 (just below “Significant”);

for 2005, the mean score was 3.56 (closer to “Neutral”). In contrast, recruiting a diverse staff

registered as a bigger concern for television respondents in 2005 than in 2004. In 2004,

television news executives gave that challenge a mean score of 3.67; in 2005, the mean score

was 3.88.

Educators continued to consider the emphasis on profits as the No. 1 challenge facing the

journalism industry. Practitioners continued to view a declining audience as the top challenge.

Here is how educators and practitioners ranked the challenges presented in the 2005 survey:

Educators Practitioners

1. Emphasis on Profits 1. Declining Audience

2. Declining Audience 2. Lack of Newsroom Staff & Resources

3. Recruiting Diverse Staff 3. Emphasis on Profits

4. Lack of Newsroom Staff & Resources 4. Declining Quality

5. Declining Quality 5. Job Applicant Qualifications

6. Covering Multicultural Communities 6. Recruiting Diverse Staff

7. Keeping Up with New Technology 7. Keeping Up with New Technology

8. Job Applicant Qualifications 8. Covering Multicultural Communities


There were interesting variations among the practitioner subgroups. Here is how they

ranked the challenges this year:

Newspaper TV Online

1. Declining Audience 1. Lack of Newsroom Staff

& Resources

1. Emphasis on Profits

2. Lack of Newsroom Staff &

Resources

2. Declining Audience 2. Lack of Newsroom Staff &

Resources

3. Emphasis on Profits 3. Emphasis on Profits 3. Declining Audience

4. Recruiting Diverse Staff 4. Declining Quality 4. Keeping Up with New

Technology

5. Job Applicant

Qualifications

5. Job Applicant

Qualifications

5. Declining Quality

6. Declining Quality 6. Recruiting Diverse Staff 6. Job Applicant

Qualifications

7. Keeping Up with New

Technology

7. Keeping Up with New

Technology

7. Recruiting Diverse Staff

8. Covering Multicultural

Communities


Communities


Communities

Online news editors’ concerns about the emphasis on profits may reflect the new realities

of Web operations. In the past, many online news organizations have been allowed to operate

outside the budget constraints of their legacy media peers. They often received a grace period to

grow the business. That grace period may have ended, and now online news operations are under

pressure to turn a profit.

Other interesting, perhaps even distressing, observations may be made regarding the

challenges on the lower end of the scale. Practitioners continued to rank “covering multicultural

communities” as the least of their concerns. While “recruiting a diverse staff” ranked as a mid-

level concern for educators and newspaper editors, it rated as a much lower concern for

television news executives and online news editors.



In what ways can journalism schools assist

in addressing various challenges?

(See Table X)

The survey listed seven ways “journalism schools might help address the challenges

facing the journalism industry.” Respondents were asked how important or unimportant those

approaches would be.

Again, there were only a handful of shifts from 2004 to 2005. Newspaper editors gave

“require courses on media management and business practices” a mean score of 3.74 (closer to

“Important” than to “Neutral”) in 2004; that dropped to 3.38 in 2005. Conversely, educators

were more likely than before to see teaching media management and business practices as a

solution for the industry: They gave that option a median score of 3.39 in 2004 but 3.68 in 2005.

In 2005, educators and practitioners as a whole ranked in exactly the same order the ways

journalism schools could assist the industry:

Educators Practitioners

1. Basic Journalism Instruction 1. Basic Journalism Instruction

2. Hands-on training 2. Hands-on training

3. Recruit Diverse Student Body & Faculty 3. Recruit Diverse Student Body & Faculty

4. Report Across Multiple Platforms 4. Report Across Multiple Platforms

5. Multicultural Communities – Diversity 5. Multicultural Communities - Diversity

6. Media Management & Business Practices 6. Media Management & Business Practices

7. Certify Competency in Computer Skills 7. Certify Competency in Computer Skills

There were slight variations among the practitioner subgroups. Here is how each

subgroup ranked the ways journalism schools could help the industry:

Newspaper TV Online

1. Basic Journalism 1. Basic Journalism 1. Basic Journalism


Instruction Instruction Instruction

2. Hands-on training 2. Hands-on training 2. Hands-on training

3. Recruit Diverse Student

Body & Faculty

3. Report Across Multiple

Platforms


Platforms

4. Multicultural Communities

– Diversity


Body & Faculty


Body & Faculty


Platforms

5. Media Management &

Business Practices


- Diversity


Business Practices

6. Certify Competency in

Computer Skills


Business Practices


Computer Skills


– Diversity


Computer Skills

Clearly, both educators and practitioners believe that academia could best help the

industry by emphasizing basic journalism instruction and hands-on training.

One newspaper editor wrote that journalism schools should provide “more real-world

experience. … there is too much weight given to theoretical rather than applied journalism.”

Another wrote: “Focus on the fundamentals – accuracy, writing skills, reporting and interviewing

skills, and how to find the story in the most mundane assignment. … Get back to the nuts and

bolts! I see too many new journalists who don’t understand the importance of spelling names

correctly, asking for titles, understanding an issue, being able to ask the follow-up questions.” An

online editor added, “Teach them good, solid journalism skills. The other stuff can be taught on

the job, and will change rapidly over time anyway. Make them good journalists and the rest will

fall into place.” A television news executive wrote: “Don’t fret so much. Just teach the damn

kids to write.”



How should journalism and journalism schools view blogging?

(see Table X)

2004 has been called “The Year of the Blog.”i During the year, “blog” was the “most

looked-up term” on Merriam-Webster’s Web siteii, which defines blog, or Web log, as “a Web

site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks.” In

2004, the Democratic and Republican national conventions for the first time granted press

credentials to bloggers, and the White House has issued press credentials to its first blogger.

Blogs are influencing the mainstream media in many ways. More newspapers have

started to include story ideas and content inspired by blogsiii, for example. In addition, reporters

and editors at a growing number of newspapers, ranging from The New York Times to the

Greensboro News & Record, have started blogs. Academia also has responded to the blogging

phenomenon. In Fall 2002, the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at

Berkeley created the first journalism course in bloggingiv.

There has been considerable debate over what ethics bloggers should follow with regard

to truth-telling, privacy, conflicts of interest and other traditional journalism values and issues.

Nick Denton, the publisher of an irreverent blog named Wonkette.com, said blogs have different

ethical standards than the more traditional media. “I think it’s implicit in the way that a Web site

is produced that our standards of accuracy are lower,” he told The New York Times.v “Besides,

immediacy is more important than accuracy, and humor is more important than accuracy.”

In response, a prominent blogger and journalist, Jonathan Dube, proposed “A Bloggers’

Code of Ethics”vi. “Responsible bloggers should recognize that they are publishing words

publicly, and therefore have certain ethical obligations to their readers, the people they write


about, and society in general,” said Dube, who modified the Society of Professional Journalists’

Code of Ethics for the blog world.

In light of the popularity and controversies surrounding blogging, the 2005 survey by the

VCU School of Mass Communications asked journalism educators two questions about

blogging.

At what point does blogging (the act of constantly updating a Web page with new

commentary and links about a particular topic) rise to a level that can be called

journalism?

Educators and practitioners generally agreed that blogging becomes journalism “Only

when journalistic standards of accuracy, accountability and independence are applied to the

blog.” This response received a mean score of 4.16 (between “Agree” and “Strongly agree”)

from educators and 3.96 from all practitioners combined. Newspaper editors (with a mean of

4.05) and television news executives (3.98) were more likely than online news editors (3.67) to

believe that blogs represent journalism only if they follow traditional journalistic ethical

standards.

The survey also asked whether “Blogs can only be considered journalism when they are

produced by a professional journalist.” Educators and practitioners somewhat disagreed with that

statement. The statement received a mean score of 2.53 from educators (between “Neutral” and

“Disagree”); it received a mean score of 2.56 from all practitioners combined (with a 2.53 from

newspaper editors, a 2.85 from TV news executives and a 2.27 from online news editors.) The

results suggest that the respondents tend to believe that non-journalists can produce blogs that

qualify as journalism; online news editors were more likely than other groups to hold that

opinion.


Finally, the survey asked respondents to consider the statement “A true blog can never be

considered journalism because blogs by their very nature must include commentary and

opinion..” Most respondents agreed with that statement, but a significant minority disagreed. The

statement received a mean score of 3.11 (closer to “Neutral” than to “Agree”) from educators

and a 3.08 from all practitioners combined. Newspaper editors gave the statement a mean score

of 3.08 and TV news executives, a mean score of 3.37. The mean score was 2.73 for online news

editors – meaning most of them disagreed with the statement. In other words, online news editors

were the only group to believe that a blog can qualify as journalism even if it includes

commentary and opinion.

The survey also asked: How should schools of journalism and mass communications

deal with the blogging phenomenon in their curricula? Respondents could select more than

one answer to that question.

Only 5 percent of both educators and practitioners said that concerning blogs, schools

should “Ignore them. This is a fad and will eventually go away.” About 3 percent of newspaper

editors, 9 percent of television news directors and 5 percent of online news editors felt that way.

About 90 percent of educators and 91 percent of practitioners said schools should

“include discussion of blogs and the ethical implications of them in existing courses.” That

feeling was shared by 93 percent of newspaper editors, 88 percent of television news directors

and 90 percent of online news editors.

About 15 percent of both educators and practitioners said schools should “Teach students

the skills they need to be bloggers themselves.” About 12 percent of newspaper editors, 16

percent of television news directors and 23 percent of online news editors gave that response.

Educators were less likely than practitioners to endorse a separate course on blogging.

About 16 percent of educators and 30 percent of practitioners said schools should “Create a


blogging course that deals with the skills and theory behind blogging.” That response was given

by 29 percent of newspaper editors, 33 percent of television news directors and 31 percent of

online news editors.

In their open-ended comments, some educators and practitioners blasted blogging. “I am

greatly troubled by bloggers and the declining importance of journalism if too much support is

given to too much opinion reporting,” one educator wrote. A newspaper editor added, “Blogging

is a waste of time. Teach editorial writing instead.”

But others said journalism students should learn about blogs – if only to mine them as a

source of information. “As a journalist, there is a need to apply critical thinking skills to source

information. Blogs are sources (in the same way corporations are citizens). Journalists have to

know how to handle them – not write them,” a newspaper editor wrote.


How supportive are media companies in backing newsroom staffers

in legal disputes involving First Amendment issues?

(see Table X)

This year’s survey also asked questions about the First Amendment. In the past year,

several reporters have been jailed or threatened with legal action for refusing to reveal the names

of confidential sources. In August 2004, for example, Time magazine writer Matthew Cooper

and New York Times reporter Judith Miller were held in contempt of court for refusing to

disclose confidential sources in a federal grand jury investigation about who revealed the identity

of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plamevii. Cooper and Miller are among more than 30 reporters

being asked to reveal sources in federal courts, according to Lucy A. Dalglish, executive director

of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The survey asked respondents: In the hiring of reporters, how important is knowledge

today about the First Amendment and its applications, i.e., the rights and responsibilities of


a free press, freedom-of-information laws, shield laws, and the challenges to a free press,

for example?

About 80 percent of both educators and practitioners answered “Very important.” The

mean score was 4.82 (closer to “Very important” than to “Important”) for educators and 4.71 for

practitioners. All of the practitioner subgroups had similar mean scores.

The survey also asked: How important is it that journalism schools teach students

about the First Amendment as an underpinning of democracy, about the rights and

responsibilities of the media, and how to address potential legal issues such as confidential

sources/shield laws?

Again, both educators and practitioners answered “Very important.” The mean score was

4.87 for educators and 4.79 for practitioners (with all subgroups giving similar scores).

But differences arose when the survey asked about media employers’ support for staff

members in First Amendment disputes. Practitioners were asked: In your newsroom, how likely

is it that your employer would back you in a legal dispute with the government and/or the

courts over a Free Press/First Amendment/FOI/confidential source issue? Educators were

asked: In a newsroom today, how likely is it that an employer would back a reporter in a

legal dispute with the government and/or the courts over a Free Press/First

Amendment/FOI/confidential source issue?

Educators are less likely than practitioners to believe that employers will support

reporters in First Amendment controversies.

Educators answered the survey question with a mean score of 3.51 (between “Neutral”

and “Likely”). Practitioners had a mean score of 4.58 (between “Likely” and “Very likely”).

Newspaper editors had a mean score of 4.71; television news executives, 4.47; and online news

editors, 4.36.


Put another way, about 69 percent of the practitioners said it was “very likely” that their

employer would support them in a First Amendment dispute. (That included 79 percent of

newspaper respondents, 57 percent of TV respondents and 55 percent on online respondents.”)

Only 14 percent of educators thought employers were “very likely” to back a reporter in a First

Amendment dispute.


Conclusion

This study surveyed 317 journalism educators, print, broadcast and online journalists

using an Internet survey. Response rate within the groups ranged from 8.8 percent (newspaper

journalists) to 27.1 percent (educators) for an average response rate of 13.0 percent. The data

shows that there continues to be a need for better collaboration between practitioners and

journalism educators.

Specific Survey Findings:

Educators and practitioners generally agreed on the most important skills for students

entering journalism for the fist time: basic journalistic writing, ethics, research and

collaboration skills.

For the second year in a row, educators give themselves much higher scores on doing a

good job of preparing future journalists than the scores they receive from the

practitioners; however, practitioners do give educators a better than average grade on

basic journalistic writing, reporting, ethics and interviewing skill development.

Online journalists and educators place significantly more importance on the convergence

skills of writing across media platforms and multimedia story planning than broadcast or

newspaper respondents.

There is disagreement about the most important courses outside of the journalism

curriculum. Nearly all educators rank liberal arts courses as very important or important.

Practitioners rank liberal arts courses near the bottom in importance and rank current

events and government affairs as the two most important areas of general education

study.


Educators and practitioners agree that schools should include discussion of blogs and

their ethical implications within the existing curriculum.

Declining audience, lack of newsroom staff and resources and the emphasis on profits are

seen as the three most significant challenges to the industry by practitioners. For

educators, recruiting diverse staff pushing lack of newsroom staff and resources out of

the top three in their rankings.

Practitioners and educators agree that schools can provide the most significant help to the

industry in the area of basic journalism instruction and by requiring more hands-on

training opportunities.

Areas for Future Studies:

Exploring what is at the heart of the difference between how well the academy believes it

is preparing students and how practitioners are grading the academy, with a goal of

developing a better understanding of the industry’s expectations (and whether or not they

are reasonable) and taking a closer look at whether curricula are evolving to meet the

ever-changing needs of the industry.

Determining what types of academic-industry partnerships might be most effective in

developing new journalists who are prepared to meet the challenges faced by newsrooms

today and in the future.

Examining why broadcast journalists are so closely aligned with educators on what skills

are important for new journalism, but also the harshest critics of the job journalism

schools are doing.

This is the kind of study that needs to be repeated because of the continually changing

media landscape. The researchers anticipate longitudinal tracking of these issues will reveal


more concrete solutions to the challenges facing the journalism industry. We cannot walk in step

to the future until we achieve some kind of consensus on what that future should look like and

how best to arrive.


References

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Documents

Walking in Step to the Future: Views of Journalism Education by … · 2017-01-12 · Walking in Step to the Future • Page 3 University of Connecticut) interviewed journalism educators,